See, Mac users have lives, and so don't need to play computer games in order to pass those late-night hours you PC users would otherwise spend alone in your dark, dank basements, sobbing uncontrollably, starved for human contact, longing desperately for a rescue that will never come.
It would have been a good point otherwise.
No we don't! Stop spreading these vicious rumors!... We just use Consoles/Portables (and rarely Boot Camp) to do most of our gaming....:)
Yes, but as we move toward digital photography and film negatives are a thing of the past, the media server is the archive of your photographs (those you don't print out).
Think of it more as "The worst that can happen is he looses all his negatives." Considering his wife is the photographer, and assuming they have around 4 years or so of accumulated photos, I think she'll kill him if that happened... I know mine would:)
Personally: All photos go to a Linux Server running RAID1 and regular DVD backups, but I've been thinking of switching to either an OSX server, or an Infrant NAS. Both have their advantages/disadvantages, and look interesting.
I wonder if something like GNU's Hurd where "The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on the Mach microkernel to implement file systems, network protocols, file access control, and other features that are implemented by the Unix kernel or similar kernels (such as Linux)." might benefit from the a massively multi-core environment?
Granted it still needs a lot of work, but it might provide a faster system then the monolithic kernels of Linux and Windows.
The noisy-ness and size of the XBox360 are the main things that kept me from getting it originally (along with my general happiness with the PS2 I got a few years before the XBox's launch).
I'm thinking of biting the bullet and upgrading to HD-TV this year (between the drop in HD-TV prices and TiVo's new HD unit), and the PS3 is starting to look like the perfect option to handle the "GameConsole/DVD/NextGenMedia" portion and round out my new TV stack. Going for the PS3 is an easier choice than a stand-alone Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player. I KNOW the Blu-Ray format is going to be used for the PS3, wether movies come out for it or not, and I expect it should be a decent DVD player also. If the format takes off, great. If it doesn't, yes, it sucks, but the hardware is still usable as a storage media for games (take a look at UMD, yeah, there aren't many UMD movies being planned, but I don't see UMD games for the PSP being phased out any time soon).
Granted the whole TV Stack is probably ~$2500-$3000 whereas my current installation is closer to $1000 (TV, VCR, TiVo+DVD Player, CableBox), but I'm actually excited about the quality difference, and analog TV Phase-out is right around the corner. Feb 17th 2009 doesn't seem that far away to me right now, especially since the HDTV acceptance rate has been climbing and is probably primed to really take off this holiday season. Once that rate climbs, there is no reason to assume that consumers won't demand more HD media (including Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, and Consoles supporting HD formats).
Call me a sheep, but I think the pastures (or at least pictures of them), will be greener.:)
Okay... so I can spend $400 for an XBox360, and $200 for the HD-DVD player, and I get a game console that uses DVDs, and an HD-DVD player, both of which sit taking up space.... all for the same price as the 'high-end' PS3.
Not bad, but it seems like Sony made the right move to integrate the drive into the console so it takes up less space, and can relied on as 'standard' hardware to released games on. It might not be the perfect system today, but it has a lot more room to grow, and will be looking a lot better within the next year or two (pretty early in its life-cycle), while the 360 might start seeming long in the tooth.
[rant] I've read a lot of articles about people complaining about it, and saying it should be optional, but since when is that any different then any other console?
Complaining about not wanting the PS3 w/BluRay is equivalent to complaining about the PS2 w/DVD, or the DS with a second screen (i.e. "I think the touch screen idea is nice, but I only want to get one with one screen that is a touch screen. They should be able to release it that way and drop the price. Those who WANT the second screen can buy it as an add-on that plugs into the hand-held.")
If you want a PS3, get it on their terms, the same way as any other Console. If you don't, be happy there are other options, and get a Wii, XBox360, or Coleco-vision if that floats your boat. The PS3 isn't a monopoly like windows, and they have a right to include/exclude anything they want in their system. [/rant]
I'm willing to bet that you will start seeing multiple DVD games, and now that 360's are going to get HD players there will be two options for distribution.
Except that MS has repeatedly said that the HD-DVD player will be for movies only (effectively irrelevant for games). This means there is only one option for game distribution... DVD.
UNLESS... they split the cinematics and game-play so the game-play is on a DVD and goes in the 'main' XBox360 drive, and the cinematics are on an HD-DVD and go in the add-on drive. I doubt this is going to happen though, since it would mean a game is limiting its potential buyer pool to those who purchased the external drive, and if MS *do* start including the HD-DVD drive as the primary drive in the unit (which I'm not convinced they will), then the system would mean swapping out the disk for every cut-scence... a tad cumbersome (but then again if the system can do that then you can also include a DVD version of the cut scenes for those without an HD-DVD drive).
In the end its easier to just make the game span multiple DVDs and bite the bullet. The problem is, how will that brake up the pacing, and how will that look when the PS3 games come out on one disk and deliver that much more space to the developer to work with?
I think the XBox360 was an interesting design, but I'm not sure MS is used to thinking in terms of decade long cycles between updates for hardware (software can be patched now). The Wii decided on 'low-tech' graphics and the system seems to operate well within those goals, competing on game-play and the controller. The PS3 decided on 'high-tech' graphics and the system seems geared to support that goal. The XBox360 started out competing against the PS2, but I'm not sure it can compete against the PS3 as well (I'm not sure its hardware will support the run for high-end graphics, and it's already committed itself to that marketplace).
I'm also not sure how XBox fans will take the console being abandoned very quickly... especially after the relatively abbreviated life-span of the original XBox. If the XBox360 is abandoned after 3-5 years, then it could make the cost of the PS3, with an expected 'lifetime' of 10 years much more attractive.
After all, don't most console gamers tout the fact that they don't need to keep 'upgrading' as one of the advantages of Consoles over PC gaming?
PCI slots need +5V or +3.3V. But a 1U server usually doesn't have PCI slots, at least not with anything in them.
Nice thought, but I'm afraid you're off base. there are a lot of 1U rackmounts that have one or two PCI/PCI-X/PCI-e slots, and quite a few of them are in use (extra NICs, SAN, etc.).
You're right about the form factor though. There are a number of vendors who only use 3U boxes because it gives them a 'normal' motherboard layout and a standard complement of slots, but most 1U and 2U boards support riser cards that let the add-on card sit horizontally at the back of the box.
But you can bet Microsoft will stick an internal HD-DVD in their next revision of the 360. I expect they'll also want to include HDMI and some other bits and pieces to close the gap with the PS3. But you can bet Microsoft will stick an internal HD-DVD in their next revision of the 360. I expect they'll also want to include HDMI and some other bits and pieces to close the gap with the PS3.
If they do this, what will it do for the idea that all consoles are the same? (Effectively it would be creating an XBox720, or some other absurd name)
Also, how would current customers with "last rev" equipment react to the idea that they need to purchase a new console to get the new do-dads that the system currently ships with... standard. (unless of course there is an upgrade path, like with the HD-DVD player, but probably not an HDMI port) It could tick off quite a few people and it make make Sony's move seem better:
Sony: "Pay for it all up front. Yeah, it might cost more now, but the hardware isn't going to appreciably change" MS: "Pay us cheaper now. Yeah, the hardware will change and you'll have to buy it again for a higher total, but you keep re-buying our OS... right?"
Re:You can't win with the controllers!
on
Will the Wii Work?
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Exactly, Nintendo's "Touch Generation" touting the DS' touchscreen abilities and focusing most of it's marketting on it utterly failed!
Yeah...
- The fact that the DS had games that were fun (and incidentally took advantage of the touch screen)
- The fact that the DS provided a huge library (or an amortized cost) since it played GBA games
- The fact that Nintendo was a virtual monopoly in handheld gaming when the DS launched... all had nothing to do with the DS's success.
I'm not saying it isn't a fun platform, but if the touch screen were the only thing it had going for it, then everyone would have just gone with a PDA for their gaming needs YEARS ago.
You said he finished with 135, which was 5 credits less than your 140.
Most colleges require a minimum of 120 credits to grant an Undergraduate Degree.
I'm assuming that the extra 20 credits were needed to fulfill all the "core requirements" that the college had.
A lot of colleges let one class be used toward multiple requirements. i.e. you must take 1 "classical studies" class, 1 "writing intensive" at the advanced level, and 1 "gender studies class". Taking "Women in the Bible (writing intensive)" might cover all three.
If the "main" degree only takes ~120 credits to finish, then tacking on 15 credits (his "135"), makes a second degree easy. Just like you said.
I know you're (hopefully) joking, but its something anyone going to college should keep in mind.
The trick to most of this is what classes fulfill what "General Education Requirements" (or Core Requirements, or whatever your school calls them).
A lot of times, the same class can be applied in multiple ways, so taking one class can be the equivalent of taking three. I used this idea to map out what classes I need/wanted to take when I first started school and it worked great. I ended up barely accumulating the minimum number of credits needed for a degree (120), and had the opportunity to finish fast, and take classes that I found interesting, since I knew how they could 'fit' in with what I had planned and what I needed.
Bare in mind that some classes are only offered once a year (or less often), so grab the ones you 'need' when you can and keep updating the schedule every semester.
With an extra 15 credits (think 5 classes), adding Physics on to a Computer Science/Engineering degree should be easy (things like Calculus and Number theory probably apply toward both leaving only the Physics specific classes to be taken). I was actually thinking about doing just that, but my wife convinced me it was time to get back to work:)
Add to this the fact that televisions are in general extremely reliable and last for ages, you have some pretty significant barriers to even tech nerd adoption.
True, but as more things support HDTV there is a more and more compelling reason to make the switch.
This year:
- HDTV sets supporting 1080i/p are dropping into the sub $1000 range
- TiVo announced a dual HDTV tuner box.
- XBox360 announced support for 1080p
- PS3 will ship with 1080p support
- HD-DVD and Blu-Ray both ship
- Most cable companies now offer HDTV channels/support and cablecard support that is built into some TVs (and the new TiVo:) ) removing the need for an additional set-top box.
- All TV stations in the U.S. should be broadcasting an HDTV signal (or are mandated to start "real soon now")
Combined, there are probably enough factors to influence a large segment of the "mid adopters". The early ones already got the hardware (and are probably burned on it), but the specifications seem much more standardized, and those people who don't want to be "early adopters", but still want to keep current with technology, are probably going to start wading in to the HDTV tech, come this holiday season.
In comparison, last time I built a computer, it took me about 30 minutes to put the pieces together, and 30 minutes to install the OS. Net savings of 1.5 hours and god knows how many hundred dollars.
I've built my last 6 computers. I certainly saved money for the features I put in them, on the other hand, after working with a Mac at work (we're standardized on them), I'm going to be buying my next computer from Apple.
It will probably cost a bit more, but the hardware has been reliable, the GUI has been easy to use and feature-full, and when I need it, there is a REAL UNIX COMMAND LINE available.
As soon as I go through my next upgrade cycle and have one or two at home to play with I'll be in a better position to convert my friends and family:)
I personally do not believe there is any real merit in trying to consolidate everything into one box. When I say everything I mean: computer, game console, visual media center, audio media center, all things that are audo-visual in nature beyond a book. The problem that you will ultimately experience is that this one unit for all services becomes a choke point in your house, unless you only have one room. It is very common in my multi-user domestic facility to have a stereo on in one room, a television on in another (with computer) and a third location that is computer only (needs more concentration).
In order to service these needs you would have to purchase three of these consolidated units and only be able to utilize 25% of the systems capabilities at any given time. It's a waste of resources and money.
The only useful applicatin for something like this is a single person dwelling where they can only use a small portion of the things that they have at their disposal anyways.
There are lots of places where "one room" IS all you have.
- Kids at college (or teen+ who only have their own room to play with... if even that). - Highly built out urban centers. Take Manhattan, Tokyo or London. In each case (and lots more), a ridiculous number of people live in a studio or one bedroom apartment (bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom). An even larger number live in two or more bedrooms with room-mates, turning an apartment into a 'dorm room' essentially, in order to pay the ridiculously inflated rents those spaces demand.
In either of these cases (that cover quite a few people), space is at a premium, and the idea of consolidating a few gadgets into the space you have (at a price you can afford), is REALLY attractive, especially if the product looks good and has some "cool" cachet.
I'd imagine that trying to compete with traditional "game consoles" might be a stupid option, but competing with Stereo/VCR/MediaCenter PCs is a pretty good option.
"NVIDIA has launched another salvo of more competitively priced graphics cards, this time hitting the sub-$200 mark...."
Seems like a good casual gamer card. Of course the NIC integrated with my MotherBoard (bought/built in January) has been good enough for my PC gaming so far.
Sub $200 is nice... of course a lot of us on/. are saving up for a [Wii|PS3|XBox360]. =D
And let us not forget that Nintendo anounced the VC a decent time ago. Now I am not saying that Sony copied Nintendo, but this is the second time they are anouncing a concept very simmilar to something Nintendo already did (the motion sensetive controllers being the first).
Well, if you're going to accuse Sony of stealing the idea from someone, you might as well accuse them of stealing it from MicroSoft. "XBox Live! Arcade" has been out for a while, and while MS doesn't exactly have previous games they can release, the only difference between what Nintendo and Sony are doing, and what MS did, is who created the initial offerings of the service. Assuming (and I am willing to bet on it), that both Sony and Nintendo allow third parties to offer games for download, then its a pretty close match (I would guess).
The fact that Sony is also releasing Movies over it is an interesting push though. I wonder if they will be playable on the PS3, and how they will show up on HDTV. If the movies are priced right, it could open up a whole new distribution channel for them (heck, the PS3 is already connected to the TV).
Well... considering Sony's first entry into the Console arena WAS the PS1, just which games should they be providing?
They will probably make other games available later on, but remember that part of the issue is not just providing a game that can be downloaded for the PSP, and porting the controls (or creating a universal way to handle porting the controls... which probably won't work), but creating the infrastructure and network that can support this sort of thing. Since they are already creating it for the PS3, it makes sense to tie in the PSP.
The article also mentions that you can download UMD movies (i.e. to a memory stick and the computer/PS3's hard-drive... probably the reason the HD was NOT optional on the PS3, unlike the XBox360). Yeah, they are still DRM encumbered (as are the games), but this seems like a great step in the right direction (depending on the price).
The fact that they expect the service to work either through a PC or the PS3 also underscores the idea of making the PSP and PS3 integrate (and perhaps explains Sony's position that the PS3 is a computer, not merely a "console"). Personally I think it bodes well for the platform.
They might make good business class printers, but when we were replacing our Networked Workgroup class laser printer we found that Brother's products we more competitive in terms of features and price (including Toner costs).
Nah, he knows what the word "change" means, he just feels that if you poll at the correct frequency, the system enters a stable state by missing all the oscillations.:)
Exactly. I wish I had mod points to mod you up, instead I'll add that it seems like MS keeps forgetting that even though they might be a monopoly, they don't write ALL the software that is going to run on the machine (and even the code they write/codecs they code can crash out on occasion).
Exactly.... both articles seem to agree that a "PSP Lite" is probably coming in March-ish, but beyond that is lots of speculation (although the 8GB internal drive would make it a nice competitor to the Nano instead of the Shuffle... if Sony can get movie content and better Music/Movie Browsing).
I'm not sure how things have changed since I saw the shuttle go up (Challenger when it blew), but we went this route.
Prepare to spend at least a few days waiting around in case the launch is delayed, and even then I remember arriving pretty early in the morning.
The neat part about this (besides the bus driver who drove us all out to the penninsula from the Visitor's Center), was they they piped the com chatter from Mission Control to the Orbiter (and back), over loud speakers placed along the viewing beach.
Not sure if they still do this, and because it was so long ago, I'm not sure how much it was edited, but its one of the things that stuck in my mind.... Well that and seeing the shuttle lift off from the pad (and blow up, but hopefully yours won't do that).
Slashdot Mirror
No we don't! Stop spreading these vicious rumors!
Why wait? Here ya go.Enjoy
Yes, but as we move toward digital photography and film negatives are a thing of the past, the media server is the archive of your photographs (those you don't print out).
... I know mine would :)
Think of it more as "The worst that can happen is he looses all his negatives." Considering his wife is the photographer, and assuming they have around 4 years or so of accumulated photos, I think she'll kill him if that happened
Personally:
All photos go to a Linux Server running RAID1 and regular DVD backups, but I've been thinking of switching to either an OSX server, or an Infrant NAS. Both have their advantages/disadvantages, and look interesting.
I wonder if something like GNU's Hurd where "The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on the Mach microkernel to implement file systems, network protocols, file access control, and other features that are implemented by the Unix kernel or similar kernels (such as Linux)." might benefit from the a massively multi-core environment?
Granted it still needs a lot of work, but it might provide a faster system then the monolithic kernels of Linux and Windows.
The noisy-ness and size of the XBox360 are the main things that kept me from getting it originally (along with my general happiness with the PS2 I got a few years before the XBox's launch).
:)
I'm thinking of biting the bullet and upgrading to HD-TV this year (between the drop in HD-TV prices and TiVo's new HD unit), and the PS3 is starting to look like the perfect option to handle the "GameConsole/DVD/NextGenMedia" portion and round out my new TV stack. Going for the PS3 is an easier choice than a stand-alone Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player. I KNOW the Blu-Ray format is going to be used for the PS3, wether movies come out for it or not, and I expect it should be a decent DVD player also. If the format takes off, great. If it doesn't, yes, it sucks, but the hardware is still usable as a storage media for games (take a look at UMD, yeah, there aren't many UMD movies being planned, but I don't see UMD games for the PSP being phased out any time soon).
Granted the whole TV Stack is probably ~$2500-$3000 whereas my current installation is closer to $1000 (TV, VCR, TiVo+DVD Player, CableBox), but I'm actually excited about the quality difference, and analog TV Phase-out is right around the corner. Feb 17th 2009 doesn't seem that far away to me right now, especially since the HDTV acceptance rate has been climbing and is probably primed to really take off this holiday season. Once that rate climbs, there is no reason to assume that consumers won't demand more HD media (including Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, and Consoles supporting HD formats).
Call me a sheep, but I think the pastures (or at least pictures of them), will be greener.
Okay ... so I can spend $400 for an XBox360, and $200 for the HD-DVD player, and I get a game console that uses DVDs, and an HD-DVD player, both of which sit taking up space. ... all for the same price as the 'high-end' PS3.
Not bad, but it seems like Sony made the right move to integrate the drive into the console so it takes up less space, and can relied on as 'standard' hardware to released games on. It might not be the perfect system today, but it has a lot more room to grow, and will be looking a lot better within the next year or two (pretty early in its life-cycle), while the 360 might start seeming long in the tooth.
[rant]
I've read a lot of articles about people complaining about it, and saying it should be optional, but since when is that any different then any other console?
Complaining about not wanting the PS3 w/BluRay is equivalent to complaining about the PS2 w/DVD, or the DS with a second screen (i.e. "I think the touch screen idea is nice, but I only want to get one with one screen that is a touch screen. They should be able to release it that way and drop the price. Those who WANT the second screen can buy it as an add-on that plugs into the hand-held.")
If you want a PS3, get it on their terms, the same way as any other Console. If you don't, be happy there are other options, and get a Wii, XBox360, or Coleco-vision if that floats your boat. The PS3 isn't a monopoly like windows, and they have a right to include/exclude anything they want in their system. [/rant]
Except that MS has repeatedly said that the HD-DVD player will be for movies only (effectively irrelevant for games). This means there is only one option for game distribution... DVD.
UNLESS
In the end its easier to just make the game span multiple DVDs and bite the bullet. The problem is, how will that brake up the pacing, and how will that look when the PS3 games come out on one disk and deliver that much more space to the developer to work with?
I think the XBox360 was an interesting design, but I'm not sure MS is used to thinking in terms of decade long cycles between updates for hardware (software can be patched now).
The Wii decided on 'low-tech' graphics and the system seems to operate well within those goals, competing on game-play and the controller.
The PS3 decided on 'high-tech' graphics and the system seems geared to support that goal.
The XBox360 started out competing against the PS2, but I'm not sure it can compete against the PS3 as well (I'm not sure its hardware will support the run for high-end graphics, and it's already committed itself to that marketplace).
I'm also not sure how XBox fans will take the console being abandoned very quickly
After all, don't most console gamers tout the fact that they don't need to keep 'upgrading' as one of the advantages of Consoles over PC gaming?
Nice thought, but I'm afraid you're off base. there are a lot of 1U rackmounts that have one or two PCI/PCI-X/PCI-e slots, and quite a few of them are in use (extra NICs, SAN, etc.).
You're right about the form factor though. There are a number of vendors who only use 3U boxes because it gives them a 'normal' motherboard layout and a standard complement of slots, but most 1U and 2U boards support riser cards that let the add-on card sit horizontally at the back of the box.
If they do this, what will it do for the idea that all consoles are the same? (Effectively it would be creating an XBox720, or some other absurd name)
Also, how would current customers with "last rev" equipment react to the idea that they need to purchase a new console to get the new do-dads that the system currently ships with
Sony: "Pay for it all up front. Yeah, it might cost more now, but the hardware isn't going to appreciably change"
MS: "Pay us cheaper now. Yeah, the hardware will change and you'll have to buy it again for a higher total, but you keep re-buying our OS
Yeah
- The fact that the DS had games that were fun (and incidentally took advantage of the touch screen)
- The fact that the DS provided a huge library (or an amortized cost) since it played GBA games
- The fact that Nintendo was a virtual monopoly in handheld gaming when the DS launched
I'm not saying it isn't a fun platform, but if the touch screen were the only thing it had going for it, then everyone would have just gone with a PDA for their gaming needs YEARS ago.
You said he finished with 135, which was 5 credits less than your 140.
Most colleges require a minimum of 120 credits to grant an Undergraduate Degree.
I'm assuming that the extra 20 credits were needed to fulfill all the "core requirements" that the college had.
A lot of colleges let one class be used toward multiple requirements. i.e. you must take 1 "classical studies" class, 1 "writing intensive" at the advanced level, and 1 "gender studies class". Taking "Women in the Bible (writing intensive)" might cover all three.
If the "main" degree only takes ~120 credits to finish, then tacking on 15 credits (his "135"), makes a second degree easy. Just like you said.
I know you're (hopefully) joking, but its something anyone going to college should keep in mind.
:)
The trick to most of this is what classes fulfill what "General Education Requirements" (or Core Requirements, or whatever your school calls them).
A lot of times, the same class can be applied in multiple ways, so taking one class can be the equivalent of taking three. I used this idea to map out what classes I need/wanted to take when I first started school and it worked great. I ended up barely accumulating the minimum number of credits needed for a degree (120), and had the opportunity to finish fast, and take classes that I found interesting, since I knew how they could 'fit' in with what I had planned and what I needed.
Bare in mind that some classes are only offered once a year (or less often), so grab the ones you 'need' when you can and keep updating the schedule every semester.
With an extra 15 credits (think 5 classes), adding Physics on to a Computer Science/Engineering degree should be easy (things like Calculus and Number theory probably apply toward both leaving only the Physics specific classes to be taken). I was actually thinking about doing just that, but my wife convinced me it was time to get back to work
True, but as more things support HDTV there is a more and more compelling reason to make the switch.
This year:
- HDTV sets supporting 1080i/p are dropping into the sub $1000 range
- TiVo announced a dual HDTV tuner box.
- XBox360 announced support for 1080p
- PS3 will ship with 1080p support
- HD-DVD and Blu-Ray both ship
- Most cable companies now offer HDTV channels/support and cablecard support that is built into some TVs (and the new TiVo
- All TV stations in the U.S. should be broadcasting an HDTV signal (or are mandated to start "real soon now")
Combined, there are probably enough factors to influence a large segment of the "mid adopters". The early ones already got the hardware (and are probably burned on it), but the specifications seem much more standardized, and those people who don't want to be "early adopters", but still want to keep current with technology, are probably going to start wading in to the HDTV tech, come this holiday season.
I've built my last 6 computers. I certainly saved money for the features I put in them, on the other hand, after working with a Mac at work (we're standardized on them), I'm going to be buying my next computer from Apple.
It will probably cost a bit more, but the hardware has been reliable, the GUI has been easy to use and feature-full, and when I need it, there is a REAL UNIX COMMAND LINE available.
As soon as I go through my next upgrade cycle and have one or two at home to play with I'll be in a better position to convert my friends and family
I work next to a rack of development machines. Trust me when I say, "Its cool at first, but gets old fast."
I DO however appreciate why all those people on the tarmac are always wearing ear protectors.
There are lots of places where "one room" IS all you have.
- Kids at college (or teen+ who only have their own room to play with
- Highly built out urban centers. Take Manhattan, Tokyo or London. In each case (and lots more), a ridiculous number of people live in a studio or one bedroom apartment (bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom). An even larger number live in two or more bedrooms with room-mates, turning an apartment into a 'dorm room' essentially, in order to pay the ridiculously inflated rents those spaces demand.
In either of these cases (that cover quite a few people), space is at a premium, and the idea of consolidating a few gadgets into the space you have (at a price you can afford), is REALLY attractive, especially if the product looks good and has some "cool" cachet.
I'd imagine that trying to compete with traditional "game consoles" might be a stupid option, but competing with Stereo/VCR/MediaCenter PCs is a pretty good option.
Seems like a good casual gamer card. Of course the NIC integrated with my MotherBoard (bought/built in January) has been good enough for my PC gaming so far.
Sub $200 is nice
Yes, they did. The only difference is that instead of targeting the generic "PC" market, each is focused on their own Console.
This is hardly a surprise, and I would hope that each system integrates well with their respective platform.
Well, if you're going to accuse Sony of stealing the idea from someone, you might as well accuse them of stealing it from MicroSoft. "XBox Live! Arcade" has been out for a while, and while MS doesn't exactly have previous games they can release, the only difference between what Nintendo and Sony are doing, and what MS did, is who created the initial offerings of the service. Assuming (and I am willing to bet on it), that both Sony and Nintendo allow third parties to offer games for download, then its a pretty close match (I would guess).
The fact that Sony is also releasing Movies over it is an interesting push though. I wonder if they will be playable on the PS3, and how they will show up on HDTV. If the movies are priced right, it could open up a whole new distribution channel for them (heck, the PS3 is already connected to the TV).
Well ... considering Sony's first entry into the Console arena WAS the PS1, just which games should they be providing?
... which probably won't work), but creating the infrastructure and network that can support this sort of thing. Since they are already creating it for the PS3, it makes sense to tie in the PSP.
... probably the reason the HD was NOT optional on the PS3, unlike the XBox360). Yeah, they are still DRM encumbered (as are the games), but this seems like a great step in the right direction (depending on the price).
They will probably make other games available later on, but remember that part of the issue is not just providing a game that can be downloaded for the PSP, and porting the controls (or creating a universal way to handle porting the controls
The article also mentions that you can download UMD movies (i.e. to a memory stick and the computer/PS3's hard-drive
The fact that they expect the service to work either through a PC or the PS3 also underscores the idea of making the PSP and PS3 integrate (and perhaps explains Sony's position that the PS3 is a computer, not merely a "console"). Personally I think it bodes well for the platform.
They might make good business class printers, but when we were replacing our Networked Workgroup class laser printer we found that Brother's products we more competitive in terms of features and price (including Toner costs).
HP is not what they once were.
Nah, he knows what the word "change" means, he just feels that if you poll at the correct frequency, the system enters a stable state by missing all the oscillations. :)
Exactly. I wish I had mod points to mod you up, instead I'll add that it seems like MS keeps forgetting that even though they might be a monopoly, they don't write ALL the software that is going to run on the machine (and even the code they write/codecs they code can crash out on occasion).
Exactly. ... both articles seem to agree that a "PSP Lite" is probably coming in March-ish, but beyond that is lots of speculation (although the 8GB internal drive would make it a nice competitor to the Nano instead of the Shuffle ... if Sony can get movie content and better Music/Movie Browsing).
I'm not sure how things have changed since I saw the shuttle go up (Challenger when it blew), but we went this route.
... Well that and seeing the shuttle lift off from the pad (and blow up, but hopefully yours won't do that).
Prepare to spend at least a few days waiting around in case the launch is delayed, and even then I remember arriving pretty early in the morning.
The neat part about this (besides the bus driver who drove us all out to the penninsula from the Visitor's Center), was they they piped the com chatter from Mission Control to the Orbiter (and back), over loud speakers placed along the viewing beach.
Not sure if they still do this, and because it was so long ago, I'm not sure how much it was edited, but its one of the things that stuck in my mind.